“Huh?” Dammit said in the background. Dasnor was frowning far more intensely than usual. There was no use in denying it. Niji swallowed nervously.

“There are no scientifically proven ways to erase amplifiers, but… you know far more than science does! I need your knowledge. I must get rid of it!”

“How about cutting your arm? I’ve figured out you are left handed.”

“Freyja…” Dasnor whispered and exchanged looks with her. Niji suspected there was far more to it than she was told.

The singer sighed and declared with a sly grin, “Information. This is a very valuable resource these days. The Gray Sisters, for example, make huge amounts of money just selling rumors back and forth. Too sad they are stupidly crazy about religion. I believe their club is beyond interesting.”

“Only if a serpentarium is your home of choice,” Dammit grumbled, and Dasnor nudged him not to interrupt.

“Do you understand what I am talking about, Niji-chan?”

“State your price.”

“Let’s say you’ll just owe me one.”

“Please, specify?”

“Money has no value for me. It’s just papers, metal pieces, bytes, whatever. But I adore bets and barters. It means I’ll help you in exchange for some service.”

“Which service?”

“Well… I don’t know yet,” Freyja cooed. “When I ask you, you will be required to fulfill it. That’s the deal I can work with.”

“I… I can’t agree to something so open-ended.”

“Do not worry, I won’t ask you to commit suicide or hurt your loved ones... nothing of the kind. I would have no benefit from that. An honest deal, Niji-chan. You—to me, me—to you. Come on! My demand might be just a request to buy me a bar of milk chocolate. I love chocolate.”

Niji looked at Dammit in confusion, then at Dasnor. The latter nodded. “Freyja can be trusted. I’d accept her offer, if I were you. But it is for you to decide.”

“Well… okay. Deal.”

“I’m so glad we see eye to eye! Please, child, give me your hand once more.”

Freyja took hold of Nigi and squeezed her palm, covered by a glove. The Elementalist felt a strange stream of energy. Pale pink aura ribbons enveloped their joined hands and then scattered.

“Eh?”

“Just a precaution.” The singer smiled. “Now it will be harder for you to break our promise.”

Niji glanced at Dasnor, but he shrugged vaguely.

“Tell me.” Freyja continued to coo, stroking Niji’s amplifier with her other hand. “Just out of interest. How did you manage to hide from the Academy that you’ve been cursed?”

“W-what…”

Niji’s heart raced, either out of fear or outrage. It seemed to her that everything around was too quiet and nothing but the insinuating voice of the enchantress existed in this world.

“Well, if we rely on the general assumption that a person can get an amplifier only of their energy color, then in this case, I’ve certainly insulted you. However, I know about magic tattoos much more than other mages who are lost in the forest of theory and have little to do with real practice. Your crimson blood. And celestial power you stole. Everything is obvious if you are able to see.”

No. No, no, no, not that. How could she know?

Niji glanced at the boys. They looked tense, but no one was going to rush and kill her immediately. The Elementalist exhaled. “That’s bullshit!”

“A bitter truth, rather. Color mixing leads to a curse as a violation of the spectrum. Oh, please don't pretend to be an innocent sheep. You knew everything from the very beginning, did you not?”

Niji pulled out her hand and pressed it to her chest. Her head was spinning from surging adrenaline. Visions flashed in her mind. A white lab. She and Rem were returning from the expedition. Having quarreled with him, Niji accidentally summoned fire in her hand without the aid of a lighter. Rem helped her to secretly do a blood test. With trembling hands, she took her test tube and watched as the liquid slowly, almost imperceptibly, turned into a different color by the influence of the reagent. Next—a printed result, a silent and inexorable confirmation: blood of group VII. Violet. The paper was burnt, the bulb was thrown into the trash, and the electronic record of the study was erased from the hard drive forever.

Since then, she could not follow the path she’d dreamed of. Since then, her life had been in danger. Since then, she had been on the run, and more people began to know about her true state. This was the end. The surest option would be to escape right now, but Niji’s legs felt too heavy to move.

Freyja’s ordinary voice contrasted against the shock Niji was feeling.

“I have bad news for you, dear. Actually, even the recently mentioned amputation won’t save you from the spread of the violet energy. Sooner or later, you are destined to die, like all Cursed children. But you already knew about it, right? That is why you so desperately wanted to get to me.”

“How… how do you know all that…”

“That’s simple. I have the same experience as you.”

“You…” Niji backed up a few steps. “You are a Violet!”

“Some time ago… I’ve cursed myself. I used to be just a tent show performer, a self-taught enchantress, a misfit rescued by Fiber Hunt. I was training in amplifier application because that was something I was brilliant at. I’ve given tattoos to all M.A.G.E. members, including my precious Dasnor. He is my masterpiece. The Academy was sick with anger, but they could do nothing. And I was so ambitious, so conceited. I wanted to do more. That’s why… I made myself an amplifier, but it was too much. I’d broken a few magical laws…”

She theatrically reached out both of her hands, like she was admiring them. Only then did Niji notice that Freyja’s gloves were not gloves at all. Her palms were covered with thick curvy lines of deep dark red. The drawings were of the Mehndi type, but overall it was more of a Celtic style.

“Blood magic,” Freyja remarked calmly.

Niji noticed that Dammit and Dasnor locked their eyes with each other, and it became clear as day to her. The music in the hall stopped, and the audience screamed in unison.

“You…” The mage girl turned to her teammates, her voice trembling. “You knew who she was. You knew that and you didn’t tell me!”

“Would it change anything?” Dasnor shrugged.

“And you knew about me too, right?”

“We never wanted to deceive you, Flare.” Dammit tried to calm her down a bit. “If we’d told you we knew the drill, you’d have thought M.A.G.E. would kill you and you’d have run away. By the way, you were the one who tricked us.” He winked at her.

“Yeah, kind of…” Niji grumbled. “So, does every person in this freaking world know already who I am? That I am slowly but surely transforming into a Viol?”

“No. Only Fiber, Dasnor and me.”

“Let’s put off our warm discussion till the concert ends, my kittens,” Freyja said, adjusting her curls with honed movements. “I have a session in five…”

The door was blown open, and the body of the ‘Enchanters Band’ backing vocalist flew past Dasnor and Dammit, who jumped away just in time. He landed on the dresser, shattering it to pieces.

“... minutes.” Freyja finished her sentence and put her hands on her waist. “Sebastian, what was that wild performance for?”

The guy sprang to his feet, too quickly for such a blast. His forehead was broken, and blood was flowing down his face. “Freyja, there…”